Pasadena Firefighters Nonprofit Donates To Villa Parke Boxing Program

Pasadena firefighters Scott Henderson and Eric Hernandez donated customized Rival Boxing attire to 12 community young people who are part of the Villa Parke Boxing Program on Monday, July 11.

Speaking to Pasadena Now about the donation and the nonprofit he founded, Henderson said that they wanted to give back to the kids who are part of the city’s boxing program. 

“We want to give back to the kids that are coming up in boxing. Villa Parke said that they needed warm up suits. So we reached out to Rival Boxing, which is a big company that does a lot of the big fights for professionals, and they gave us a really good discount on warm up suits. Then we went and got them custom made to give to the kids.” 

“Today we gave those to the kids for the first time and we want to see the kids understand that the fire department and the city of Pasadena and the 8 0 9 fight for awareness, we all look up to them too as well because they’re putting so much hard work into their craft and something they love,” Henderson said. 

Henderson and Hernandez together with their wives founded the 809 Fight for Awareness nonprofit in 2019 to address the mental health challenges of firefighters and first responders. 

The nonprofit organized their first outdoor boxing exhibition between first responders staged in Centennial Square at City Hall, which was held on Sept. 21, 2019. The event raised over $31,000 in their campaign for mental health awareness in support of first responders.

“Boxing seemed a natural fit, as a sport that requires not only physical strength and stamina, but also discipline and control, and the ability to think strategically under pressure – not unlike firefighting or police work,” according to the nonprofit. 

Based on the success of the inaugural event, the nonprofit is planning a bigger boxing event in September.

On Sept. 17, 809 Fight for Awareness will hold the next Battle for Mental Health boxing exhibition, also at Centennial Square, which will feature matches between firefighters and police officers from the Pasadena Police Department, as well as other boxing enthusiasts in the Pasadena area. 

“It’s a boxing demonstration that we’ll have, fire versus police,” Scott Henderson, founder of 809 Fight for Awareness, said. “And we have a bunch of different fire departments and a bunch of different police departments that will compete against each other in a demonstration. We also have the youth that comes out and we’ve connected ourselves with Villa Parke boxing because it’s in the city of Pasadena.” 

Henderson said the exhibition will consist of three youth fights from Villa Parke, and a total of five firefighter-vs.-cop fights through the night. 

“We’re going to have live bands, we’re going to have catering trucks, we’re going to have a bunch of tents,” he said. “All the tents that you’re going to see there are going to be a bunch of firefighter- and police-owned nonprofit organizations or mental health organizations for awareness, for education.” 

On Monday, the group announced plans to hold the second Battle for Mental Health boxing tournament in September, and gave away boxing warm-up suits for 12 local youth who are part of the Villa Parke Boxing program. 

809 Fight for Awareness was set up after Henderson contacted Next Rung, a similar nonprofit based in Georgia with a nationwide membership, which also provides support for first responders suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or other mental health issues. 

“There’s a lot of cancer charities. There’s a lot of other charities for this and that. The one thing we were missing was there wasn’t a lot of support for firefighters and mental health and going through post-traumatic stress incidents. And so we wanted to do something to raise money and awareness,” Henderson said. 

Henderson and other Los Angeles area firefighters also helped raise funds for Next Rung before they decided to establish 809 Fight for Awareness. The number 809 comes from the Pasadena Firefighters union chapter number, he said. 

When the next Battle for Mental Health happens in September, Henderson said they are expecting to see some VIPs including Terry Crews, boxing trainer Freddie Roach, ESPN sportscaster Dominic Brazil, and Mix 100.5 announcer Mario Lopez, among others. 

Aside from raising mental health awareness and helping raise funds for Next Rung, 809 Fight for Awareness expects to forge more partnerships with individuals and groups who sympathize with first responders and understand the work that they do to keep the community safe. Henderson said he hopes to connect with those partners in the run-up to the September boxing exhibition. 

“We’re looking for anybody and everybody. We’re looking for partners that believe in fire and EMS and we’re looking for partners that believe in our youth because the youth that we’re trying to bring in is hopefully future firefighters,” he said. “A lot of firefighters and a lot of police officers go through a lot of bad times because of the things they see. So we’re looking for partners that want to understand, that want to learn, that want to be a part of our culture, want to be a part of our family.” 

For updates on the boxing exhibition and the nonprofit work, visit www.809fight4awareness.com.